I've always thought this was a bad location for BAM as it pits a second-tier book store directly against the number one book store sitting within sight of it (and in a better plaza). Certainly for myself, I will rarely hit a BAM if Barnes & Noble is an option. It's just a nicer store in almost every way. (Even BAM cafe coffee and cookies are noticably below the B&N standard). That said, I have stoped at this BAM quite a few times over the years. My impression is that it was the *deepest* bookstore I was ever in -- It seemed to take half an hour to walk back to the magazine rack in the rear.

I'm not sure how their 2nd & Charles concept will work out. The story in The State makes it sound a little different from your standard used book store, but it also sounds like more sizzle than steak. I'm not sure there is any way to compete against Amazon in this arena, and I especially can't imagine they would get the kind of profit that would support such a huge floor space. I wish them luck.

These pictures were taken on Sunday 28 April, and as I went to try and get through-the-glass shots, I saw that there were people inside working on the remodel, so they are apparently serious about getting the conversion done quickly. (And in consequence, I did not get those shots).

(Hat tip to commenter TahoeChic)

UPDATE 5 June 2013 -- The place claims it will open this month:

UPDATE 12 July 2013 -- As mentioned in the comments, 2nd & Charles is now open:

As detailed here, on 11 December 2012, Mattress Firm bought out Mattress Source and all the Mattress Source stores were closed temporarily for re-branding.

I missed the buyout news, not being in the mattress market currently, but noticed the new banner over the old marquee when I was driving down Harbison recently. Since I don't have a dog in the fight, I'll say that I like the name Mattress Firm better than Mattress Source as it works (presumably intentionally) as a play on words.

I'll also say that while I have no opinion yea or nay on their mattresses, I continue to admire the Tempurpedic logo.

You wouldn't think that you could get away with plastering a shapely undraped female derriere all over your marquee and front yard, but they do. Granted they have toned down the, um, cleavage from a few years ago:

A. C. Moore was the follow-on operation to the old Harbison Bi-Lo. I never went in, but had the feeling from the name that it was probably something like Hobby Lobby. Late last year they for some reason lost their lease and had to vacate the premises. They started a sale and clearance program almost immediately, and it appears to have been successful based on how little is left inside...

I find it curious that they were let go as the plaza is not completely sold, and it will take a special store to get shoppers to brave the traffic and make it a destination, something that that apparently did not apply to the grocery store.

I thought I had some daylight pix of the store after the closing was announced, but they seem pretty well hidden at the moment.

I never really associated Kenny Rogers with food (well, except maybe "four hungry children & a crop in the field"..), but according to my sister, the chicken at his Kenny Rogers Roasters restaurants was excellent. And, in fact, from what I can tell from this Wikipedia article, there was a Seinfeld episode based around that fact.

The article is quite vague about what happened to the chain. At one point they were doing well, having just bought out a troublesome competitor and gone public with over 1000 restaurants, and a few sentences later they are in Chapter 11. Today, apparently almost all the stores are in Asia.

The Chapter 11 came in 1998, but the Harbison store was already a Bojangles at that point, so I'm just leaving the closing date as mid 1990s.

Well, that didn't last too long. On the other hand, I suppose it wasn't intended to since similar exhibitions zip in and out of Jamil Temple fairly often. (Not to mention temporary stores like Giant Book Sale in other unused Harbison storefronts).

Anyway, this liquidation center went into the old Office Depot location across from the Harbison Barnes & Noble a month or so ago, and offered bargins on fashion and electronics. I've gotten some good deals on computer equipment at the Jamil sales, but the trick is to remember that you only go if you actually think you'll buy something, as there is a $5.00 fee just to walk in the door. In this instance, there was nothing much I needed, so I never did.

I see from a sign that the building is still available for short-term leases, so perhaps the lidiquation company (apparently out of Ohio) will lease it again sometime.

This storefront, caty-cornered from the Harbison Barnes & Noble, was originally an OfficeMax. When OfficeMax left South Carolina in 2006, Office Depot took the opportunity to take over the space.

As far as I know, Office Depot isn't in any trouble as neither the Two Notch nor Dutch Square stores seem to be closing, but I guess it was a hard sell to get people to brave Harbison traffic for printer paper and paper clips.

Unlike a lot of store closing sales, this one actually had some good bargains. I got an external DVD drive and a USB drive enclosure for a really good price when I went in to check it out.

UPDATE 12 September 2012 -- The place is now a liquication outlet. This seems to be similar to the kind of event sometimes hosted by the Jamil temple where you pay an entrance fee and then look for bargains on electronics and other items. When I went by a week or two ago, the door fee was $5:

I'm not when this Bi-Lo closed, but it's listed in the February 1997 phonebook and was gone by the mid 2000s. Actually, I'm not entirely sure it closed, as the Bi-Lo on Saint Andrews Road is fairly new -- perhaps it relocated to there.

It was apparently replaced by two stores, an A C Moore craft store in most of the space, and Total Wine in the rest.

There has been a fair bit of churn in this plaza (which fronts on both Harbison and Columbiana). Over the years I've featured Computer Renaissance, and Gold's Gym, but there are a number I never got around to.

UPDATE 20 May 2012: Added the store number and exact closing date to the post title based on information from commenters Andrew & Irmojeff.

(The pictures aren't that great -- I was shooting ISO 3200, when I could have gotten by with 1600 or even 800).

The State says that this Abercrombie & Fitch in Columbiana Mall shuttered on 14 January 2012 as part of a bad-economy driven process that has already closed the King Street store in Charleston, and will close the Greenville store this weekend (28 January 2012). [The Myrtle Beach store in Coastal Grand Mall will remain open for now].

A&F is not a store I've ever entered, though I was pretty sure they sell clothes, and a glance at their web site confirms that. The only association I have with the name is an old joke/shaggy-dog-story that I heard parts of in the 70s that ended with

You can call me X, you can call me Y, but you doesn't has to call me Abercrombie!

Apparently the mall will make good this loss when a store called Love Culture opens this summer. This is another clothing store, but apparently for women only. The current tagline on their site

On the hunt for cute clothes!

and the two somewhat campy, retro graphics suggest a fairly young demo.

I don't know how I suffered this mental lapse, but somehow I convinced myself that on the day after Christmas, the Christmas rush would be over, and it would once more be safe to hit the Harbison area. Bad call!

I came up Harbison from Saint Andrews Road, and that wasn't so bad. Neither was getting into the circle for Columbiana Centre. Getting out was the hard part. It took me half an hour to merge into the counterclockwise outbound traffic and work my way to the Columbiana Drive exit. In between arriving and leaving, the mall itself was as packed as I've ever seen any mall. I guess I have been "spoiled" by the nearly empty expanses of Richland Mall, Columbia Mall and Dutch Square. I guess that makes Columbiana Centre Columbia's success story, but it doesn't make me want to go there again any time soon..

At any rate, Payless Shoe Source were in their final few days and were selling everything down to the store fixtures in preparation for clothing store Forever 21 to expand into their spot. In years past, it's always seemed to me that shoe stores are the most over-representated category in malls, but perhaps that's now changing.